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Movies / On DVD / Be Kind Rewind
Be Kind Rewind

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Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Reviews Counted:12

Fresh:10

Rotten:2

Average Rating:6.5/10

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for some sexual references.

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:22-02-2008

Synopsis: Music-video-director-turned-auteur Michel Gondry continues to charm with his low-tech offering, BE KIND REWIND. Set in dreary Passaic, New Jersey, the comedy centers on two of the town's residents:... Music-video-director-turned-auteur Michel Gondry continues to charm with his low-tech offering, BE KIND REWIND. Set in dreary Passaic, New Jersey, the comedy centers on two of the town's residents: trouble-making Jerry (Jack Black) and well-meaning Mike (Mos Def). Mike works in a video store in an age where the VHS is long dead, but the store's owner, Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover), doesn't seem to be in any hurry to change. When Mr. Fletcher leaves town for a trip, he entrusts his store to Mike with one piece of advice: don't let Jerry in the store. But after some mischief, Jerry returns to the store in a strange state. Not only is he weirder than usual, but he's also magnetized, which causes the entire store's stock to be erased. In order to keep the struggling business afloat, Mike and Jerry begin remaking the films in the store one by one. Their hilariously low-budget versions of films such as GHOSTBUSTERS and RUSH HOUR 2 soon begin to draw attention and business to the store, but that creates a whole new set of problems for the pair. Though Gondry's three previous fiction films--HUMAN NATURE, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, and THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP--were all essentially love stories, BE KIND REWIND captures another kind of romance. Both the writer-director and his characters are in love with the cinematic medium itself, and their devotion shows. BE KIND REWIND doesn't reach the heights of ETERNAL SUNSHINE, but it doesn't seem to be aiming for that genius. This is simply a hilarious comedy, fun for film fans of all stripes, which celebrates the sheer joy of watching and making films. [More]

Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow

Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz, Chandler Parker, Irv Gooch, Arjay Smith, Marcus Carl Franklin

Director: Michel Gondry

Director: Michel Gondry
Producer: Michel Gondry, Julie Fong, Georges Bermann
Composer: Jean Michel Bernard
Studio: New Line Cinema

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Reviews for Be Kind Rewind

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1 - 12 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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A film that's sweet and well-intentioned, but with a heart where its brain should be.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/22/08
David Gritten
David Gritten
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Hollywood showbiz is about the now and the new, so there is something subversive about Gondry pitching his tent in the wasteground of obsolescence behind the gleaming edifice of modernity.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/22/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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Michel Gondry is a visionary of sorts, but he needs a talented writer to add emotional depth to his child-like creativity if he is going to reach the heights of Eternal Sunshine again.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/22/08
Matthew De Abaitua
Matthew De Abaitua
Channel 4 Film
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Moments of Gondry inspiration make Be Kind Rewind worth your time, even if you decide to wait for the video.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/22/08
Matt McNally
Matt McNally
BBC
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The magnitude of Gondry’s visual ingenuity is consistently jaw-dropping.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/22/08
David Jenkins
David Jenkins
Time Out
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There’s just enough whimsical good humour to carry Be Kind Rewind, but Michel Gondry’s latest does tend to keep crashing into ‘oh come on now, what were you thinking?’ self-indulgence.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/20/08
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
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Be Kind Rewind declares that the riches of cinema history touch each of us personally. Films become so deep a part of us that we own them that our memories of them, whether faithful or fanciful, become their meanings.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
02/22/08
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
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It’s inviting, undemanding and altogether wonderful. You’ll want to see it again, or at least Swede it yourself.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
02/22/08
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
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Eminently likable. And there's something about Gondry's persistent nostalgia that feels contemporary, or opportune, at least.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/22/08
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
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I felt positive and genial while watching it, but I didn't break out in paroxysms of laughter. It's the kind of amusing film you can wait to see on DVD. I wonder if it will come out on VHS?

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 1 Comment
02/22/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Gondry would seem to have intended Be Kind Rewind more as a generous, sweet-tempered comic fable. But the souffle never rises.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
01/22/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
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For all of Gondry's undeniable talent, it would be hard to imagine him pulling off this delicate and even cornball conceit without his star, Jack Black.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
01/18/08
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
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1 - 12 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Be Kind Rewind

June 25, 2008: A people's cinema rough cut heart so squarely in the right place over in Passaic as opposed to Hollywood, that it's pretty much hard to resist. Opens in new window
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